Parade

Oscar Host Seth MacFarlane Talks Landing Hollywood's Toughest Job

In this Sunday’s issue of PARADE, Family Guy creator and Academy Awards host Seth MacFarlane opens up about his hopes for a surprising Oscar night, the future of Family Guy, and more.

Watch behind-the-scenes video from MacFarlane's cover photo shoot and read highlights from his PARADE cover story below. Check out the full interview with Seth MacFarlane in this weekend's issue of PARADE.

MacFarlane on bringing his outrageous brand of humor to this year's awards."The worst thing to happen at the Oscars would be if nothing happened. You want something unscripted, something to riff on, something kinda out there. [I'm looking to] find a balance somewhere between Billy Crystal and Ricky Gervais."

On being his own worst critic. “I think at times I read too much of my own press. I wish I was better at taking in how great my life is, but that’s surprisingly elusive. I tend to be very hard on myself and insecure about failing no matter what happens.”

Rules at the MacFarlanes’ home were loose: Cursing was okay. Off-color jokes got no push-back. “There wasn’t this puritanical fear of certain areas of humor or behavior,” says MacFarlane, who defines himself now as superliberal and religion-averse. The laid-back approach worked for MacFarlane, who says, “I’m one of the few people in Hollywood who actually had a good childhood.”

At this point MacFarlane thinks the end of Family Guy might be near. “How much more is there to find out about these characters? You don’t want to start concocting things like what if Pete finds out he’s half Chinese. I’ve never heard of a TV show that after nine seasons goes into its best years. It would be arrogant to assume that we’ll be the first.”

MacFarlane on the rumor of a movie version of Family Guy. “I think at some point that’ll happen.”

Though he typically keeps a low profile, MacFarlane discusses dating. “I’m wide open to getting married, but actors are not easy people to date. You end up sharing that person with this other mistress that is their career. I very much like the traditional courtship method of making a date. That’s what they do in normal places, but Hollywood’s not normal.”

Check out the full interview with Seth MacFarlane in this weekend's issue of PARADE.